Garment hanger



March 18, 1952 H. C. COOK, SR

GARMENT HANGER Filed July 17, 1946 INVENTOR. MM wij/7 Patented Mar. 18, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENT HANGER Harold C. Cook, Sr., Long Island City, N. Y.

Application July 17, 1946, Serial No. 684,151

13 Claims. (Cl. 223--91) This invention relates to a garment hanger.

The standard garment hanger consists of a hook for suspending the hanger, shoulder pieces to receive a coat, and a rod connecting the ends of the shoulder pieces, over which an additional garment may be hung. It is difficult to hang garments over the cross rod; it is more difficult to remove them from the rod, and it is difficult indeed to remove a garment from the cross rod when a coat is on the shoulder pieces. In order to accomplish this successfully, it is generally necessary to remove the hanger from the support, remove the coat from the hanger, and then remove the garment from the rod. That clumsy necessity is one of the minor annoyances which is encountered frequently because it is frequently desired to remove trousers or a skirt from the hanger without disturbing the coat land without removing the hanger from its support.

It is an object of this invention to construct a garment hanger having shoulder pieces adapted to receive the co-at and having removable clamps adapted to suspend other` garments, which will be readily removable when removal is desired, but which will not be accidentally disengaged by the normal handling to which such garment hangers are subjected.

A particular object of the invention is to construct a device ofthe char-acter described in a plurality of modications adapted to particular ruses and to particular methods of construction.

when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawingsv are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference for this latter purpose being had primarily to the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views,

Fig. 1 is a vertical elevational view of a preferred form of hanger embodying the principles of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective detail of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively an end elevation and a vertical section showing a preferred method of attaching the springs to the cl-amping rods;

Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a vertical section Vand a side elevation of an alternate method of attaching the spring ends to the clamping rods;

Figs. 'l and 8 are respectively detail views of -a modified form of clamping rod and of the means of attaching the springs thereto;

Fig. 9 is an end elevational view of a modified form of detachable trouser hanger;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view 'of an end of another modication; and 'I Fig. 11 is a perspective view 'of an end of yet another` modification. I

In the drawings, the numerals I0, I0i ndic'a'te shoulder pieces of a garment hanger that are shaped to receive and maintain the set of a coat. These p-ieces may conveniently be made of wood, although they may also be made of other materials, and may be held together by one or more metal pieces II of curved shape that are driven into the pieces I 0, I0 across the joint I2. The strength of a hanger so constructed is adequate for ordinary purposes. A hook I3 projects upward from the hanger and is employed to suspend it from the usual rod that is employed in cloth# ing closets for that purpose. The undersides of the shoulder pieces are provided with oppositely disposed faces I 4, I4' in which are mounted pins I5, I6, which may be conveniently made of brass or other satisfactory material driven into the material of the hanger. These pins are of comparatively short length and serve as supports for the clamps constituting a particularly valuable portion of the invention.

A preferred form of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and these figures should now be referred to.

Two clamping rods I'I, I'I are suspended from the pins I5, I6 in such a manner that they cannot be materially displaced with respect to each other in a longitudinal direction, and so that they cannot be dislodged from the pins accidentally. As suspension means for these clamping rods, I prefer to use wire springs I8, which are provided at their mid-portions with a single coil I9 and have the ends 20 of the shanks bent lat right angles. The shanks provide adequate space between the rods for the reception of the garments that are to be suspended.

The ends of the rods II, I'I are slotted, in the form of the invention being described, at 2|, and the bent ends 20 of the spring Shanks are received in the slots and forced into the material of which the rods are made, as shown in Fig. 4. The rods may satisfactorily be made of wood or'other material capable of receiving the ends of the springs. After the end of the spring has been thuslseated in the end Aof a rod, the slot may be lled Awith a material, such as plastic wood or other hardening compound, or with a plug 22. Plastic wood or the like has its own adhesive powers, Whereas a plug usually requires gluing. Therefore, plastic wood is preferred. In this way, the springs are simply and inexpensively mounted in the ends of the rods and will perform their intended functions for extended periods of time.

The coil I9 may have as many turns as is desired, although one turn is generally sufcient if the spring has sufficient strength, which need not lbe great. The shanks of the spring are crossed in order to draw the rods I'I, Il into gripping relation, and they are also crossed in such manner as to prevent the rods from being displaced longitudinally with respect to each other. This is illustrative.

In Fig. 10 is a modification of the invention that'does not require springs, but which yet attains a clamping action. In this form of the invention a pair of plates 60 are connected toaccomplished, as shown in the drawing, bybring- Y ing the Shanks which support one rod inside the Shanks which support the other rod. Thus, in Fig. I the shanks which support the visible rod are outside the shanks which support the hidden rod so. that displacement of the latter with respect to theformer is limited by the engagement of the spring shanks.` This is achieved by bringing the shankof the inner turn of the spring coil outside the shank of .the outer turn, which also serves 'to mutually brace the springs so that they will not be accidentally displaced from the pins I5, I6.

.It is therefore apparent prevents the springs from being disengaged from Y the hanger accidentally.

An alternative method of attaching the ends of Y. the spring shanks to clamping-rods, and an alterf `native form of clamping rod, is shown in Figs. 5 and6.- -In those figures the clamping rods 3!) are square and are provided near their ends with annular grooves 3I -The end 32 of the spring shank 33 is-formed as a loop` thatv fits within the slot 3 I. `The portion of the slot beyond the -spring may be `filled With plastic wood orother hardening com- Ypoundsto provide a smooth surface.V

In Figs. 7 and 8 are shown other mcdications.

' Inthese figures the numeral 40 indicates clampingrods of irregular shape, being somewhat L- shaped in cross section as shown in Fig.-7, leaving .a space 4I at the -top whichis desirable inthe suspension of trousers having. cuffs. .maybe put above the meeting faces 42 in the slot L4I provided for them, thus preventing the mar- The .cuffs ring-of .the cuff surface by the pressure of the hanger. .The thickness of the cloth in the trouser ylegabove the cuff, being materially less than the `thickness of the cloth in the cuir, is farless apt lto.retain.an impression of the hanger. springs 43,..in -this form of the invention, are

The

seatedin slots Mwhich are cut in the outer and lower faces of therods. This slot is thus L- shaped. The end 45 of the spring is three times bent. VOnce at 45, again at 4T, and a third time ait 48, .the end 48 being driven into the material of which the rod is made, and the slot outside the nspringbeingiilled with a hardening material.

Fig,r 9 represents an alternative form of the invention.. In this form, two rods 5B, 50' are supvported' at the lower end of levers 5I, 5IV that are .,pivoteditogether at `their upper ends 52 and are drawn together by a spring 53 having hooked ends o'- of the rods 64, 64 only. This-suggested modificagether by rods 6I, 6 I and are supported from the pins of the hanger by hooks 62. In these plates are a pair of converging slots 53, 63', in which are mounted rods $4, 54 having heads 65, 55'. The heads are of suiiicient size to prevent the rods from being dislodged from the slots. The slots may be provided at their upper endsy with enlarged portions 66 adapted to` admit the heads, or the heads themselves may be made removable at one end, as by-screw threading. The immovable rcds 6I may be dispensed with by providing rods 64 with grooves in the ends in which the edgesof the slots 53 are seated. Inthis way the platesgiv are attached to each otherby means tion is of less importance than that which is illustrated because of the tendency of such construc- In Fig. 11 is shownY yet another modication of the invention, Yin which .there are provided end plates 'IIlbetWeen which extends. a rod 'II which is permanentlyattachedr to them- In addition,

the device-of Fig. 2 may be-employed therewith,

the loop- I9 being arranged to coincide with an -vopening Y'I2 inthe plate ID forhanging purposes.

The bars I'I and I'I' cooperate with thebar II to formv a plurality of clamps. Y The plate 'I0 is of spring steel, preferably,` and theopening 'I2 is surrounded by 4an annular boss upon which the loop I9 hangs. The devices of Figs. liland l1 Vcan be fixed to the hanger if desired,.although therebythey lose the removable feature that is an important advantage `of this hanger construction.

The removable hangersl are useful not only With -ashoulder piece, but also separately. It is possible to constructV inra closet or other suitable locations a series of pins, hooks or other supports thatlwillreceive and support the clamps by means Yof the supporting springs or brackets. This particular separate use is particularly valuable in Y clothing stores'where trousers are suspended in display groups.

I ports for the suspended section.

'The shoulder section of the hanger may be molded out of plastic material, including the sup- 'Ihe 'hook I3 may, in such cases, be molded of the same material of which the shoulders are molded, or may be aseparate part molded into the neck. Similarly, the springs I8 may be molded at their ends into plastic members such as Il, I'l.

Several advantages of the invention have been pointed out in connection with certain features of its construction. In addition, it is noteworthy that the invention is of simple construction and is adapted to manufacture at low cost in large quantities, and that it is more efiicient than -the hangers of thev prior art. Y

- Another advantage of the inventionl is that the clamping rods maintain their gripping action upon the clothing whether suspended or not and require no slider or camming member to force them into engagement with each other.

An advantage of the modifications shown in Figs. 5 and 7 is that the fiat faces of the rods have less tendency to mar the garments between them.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments thereof herein illustrated and described except as dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. A garment hanger comprising shoulder pieces, pins projecting from the underside thereof to serve as supports, clamping rods, and coil springs having crossed ends attached to the rods whereby to impart gripping action thereto, said springs having portions intermediate their ends formed into coils for supporting engagement with said pins, and the tip portions of said spring ends being embedded in said rods to support the latter and hold the same against movement longitudinally of said spring ends.

2. A garment hanger comprising shoulder pieces, pins projecting from the underside thereof and directed toward each other to serve as supports, clamping rods, and coil springs having crossed ends stifiiy attached to and projecting from the rods whereby to impart gripping action thereto and to resist bending along the rods, said springs having intermediate supporting parts for engagement with the pins, resilient deflection of said supporting parts being required to hang the rods on, or to remove them from, the said pins.

3. A garment hanger including shoulder pieces, pins projecting from the shoulder pieces, clamping rods, springs having suspending parts engageable with said pins, said rods being connected at each end by said springs stiiy connected to the rods but having resilience laterally of the rods, so that the rods may be parted, and having resilience longitudinally of the rods, so that the suspending parts may be sprung over the pins for engagement with or removal therefrom.

4. A garment hanger comprising a supporting bar, two elongated clamping rods, and means for yieldably biasing said rods toward each other and for suspending the same in parallel side by side relation at equal distances below said supporting bar, said means comprising two stii wire springs each having the center portion thereof formed into a coil and the end portions thereof connected to said rods, the connections between said end portions and rods being such as to hold the rods against movement longitudinally of said end portions, and means on said supporting bar extending into said coils to pivotally support said springs and rods.

5. A garment hanger comprising a supporting bar, two straight elongated clamping rods of substantially equal length, and means for suspending said rods side by side and with end to end contact with each other below and in spaced relation to said bar, said means comprising two stiff wire springs each having the center portion thereof formed into a coil and the end portions thereof crossed, said springs being supported adjacent opposite ends of said bar for pivotal movement about a common axis parallel to said rods by means on said bar extending into said coils, an end of each spring having direct connection with one of said rods and the other end of each spring having direct connection with the other said rod, whereby said rods are yieldably biased into engagement with each other by said springs and held against movement longitudinally of said ends of said springs.

6. A garment hanger as defined in claim 5 wherein said rods have curved engaging side surfaces in substantially line contact with each other.

7.' A garment hanger as defined in claim 5 wherein said ends of the springs extend longitudinally into the upper edges of said rods and have deformed tip portions engaging the rods to secure the latter against removal from the spring ends.

8. A garment hanger as defined in claim 7 wherein each said tip portion is wholly Within the confines of the surface of a said rod and constitutes the sole means for securing the rod to the spring.

9. A garment hanger as defined in claim 7 wherein said tip portions are bent to extend at approximately right angles to the remainder of said spring ends and are embedded in the rods in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the latter.

10. A garment hanger as defined in claim 7 wherein the ends of the rods are slotted to receive said end tip portions and means filling said slots to help retain said portions in position.

11. A garment hanger as defined in claim 7 wherein said rods have angular grooves therein to receive the yends of the springs and said tip portions are curled to at least partially encompass the rods in said grooves.

12. A garment hanger as defined in claim 5 wherein the supporting means on' the bar for said springs are so constructed and arranged that said coils are readily removable therefrom for disconnecting the spring and rod assembly from the bar.

13.A garment hanger as defined in claim 4 comprising a third rod suspended from said bar between said clamping rods, and wherein the latter are biased by said springs against opposite sides of said third rod.

HAROLD C. COOK. SR.

'REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 706,497 Salmon et al. -Aug. 5, 1902 794,176 Hamilton July 11, 1905 889,935 Larson June 9, 1908 1,342,265 Johnson June 1, 1920 2,145,120 Loveless Jan. 24, 1939 2,149,144 McLarty Feb. 28, 1939 2,340,320 Goldbert Feb. 1, 1944 2,409,927 Byrket Oct. 22, 1946 2,420,196 Robin May 6, 1947 2,479,356 Hennes Aug. 16, 1949 

